Computer runs slow -- really slow!

[Jintan]

No, I think you got it. Very good work. I do not know what had made the changes that you have now corrected, but of course keep a watch for issues that might come up, and if so post back here and we'll review them. At least in the next few days - doesn't help over long time periods to stay with a thread when too many issues and things may have changed. Any more problems we need to address before we just finish with a cleanup here?

[Bonksie]

Everything's fine over here. I now do have the "new PC feeling again", thanks to your tireless efforts!

I assume that after the final cleanup it will be OK to reinstall McAfee.

[Jintan]

Yes, let's do the cleanup, then you reinstall McAfee and post back to verify everything is okay there now. Understand that McAfee, just by the nature of how it operates, will again add some system slowness.


Go to Start – Settings – Control Panel. Click on Add/Remove Programs. If any of the following programs are listed there, click on the program to highlight it, and click on Remove. Then close the Control Panel. These are older and more vulnerable Java versions, though be sure to leave the latest, Java(TM) 6 Update 13

J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 10
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 8
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 9
Java(TM) 6 Update 2
Java(TM) 6 Update 3
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 6 Update 1

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You can also at this time delete the files/folders of the tools we used. To assist with some of that download OTMoveIt3 and save the file to your desktop. This will help by automatically removing some of the tools we used.

Click OTMoveIt3.exe to run it and click on Cleanup. You'll be asked if you want to begin cleanup process? Select Yes.

OTMoveIt will search for and delete/uninstall many of the tools that we have used to fix your problems and all their backup folders and then delete itself when you next reboot. At the end of the run you will receive a prompt to reboot, so go ahead and allow that.

Then do the McAfee reinstall, reboot, check things and post back an update please.

[Bonksie]

OK, all done. I manually deleted all the files and folders left after running OTMoveIt3. I also removed Malwarebytes which I had installed earlier.

Now, when rebooting, I get the black screen giving the option of selecting Windows XP Home operating system or the MS Recovery Console. It stays up for a few seconds, then defaults to XP Home and boots successfully. This has never happened before. Have I inadvertently done something wrong?

[Jintan]

When you ran ComboFix you did the install of the Recovery Console, which is what this new other option is. It is a good idea to have installed, as a relatively instant means of accessing things if needed.

[Bonksie]

Have not been able to reinstall McAfee yet as the download page is reported as being temporarily unavailable or deleted. Will keep trying . . .


OK, McAfee now re-installed and everything running well. Should I also at this time uncheck those startups in msconfig?

[Jintan]

I more often suggest folks try to disable startups from within the software itself - many of them have the means in their options/preferences. Not all, but most. Assuming softwares are coded to run in ways that they are intended to run, not using the software's own mechanics to disable the startups may/may not effect the software or whatever it calls upon when used.

[Bonksie]

I've unchecked all startups in msconfig and have started working on establishing what needs to be loaded at startup and what doesn't. So far everything is running very well.

Do I need to flush all previous restore points?

[Jintan]

Malware creates it's own Restore points, so the way to remove those is to reset System Restore and start afresh.

[Bonksie]

I've gone ahead and removed all previous Restore points and created a new one.

So far everything is OK, running smoothly and responding quickly.

Thank you very much for all the patient help. I've taken out a 3 year subscription, not only to support CTH, but also to make sure I don't forget to come back now and again.

Is there anything else I need to do?

[Jintan]

Very good subscribing - it offsets the expenses operating this website and software. As for our work - All done now.

[Bonksie]

Thank you.

[Jintan]